


Paralyzed

by roboticdragons



Category: No Straight Roads (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Medical Trauma, Panic Attacks, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Surgery, unreality
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-15
Updated: 2020-09-15
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:41:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 883
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26480572
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/roboticdragons/pseuds/roboticdragons
Summary: An unsuccessful attempt at reviving Captain ███ ██████, following an emergency medical procedure.
Comments: 7
Kudos: 175





	Paralyzed

**Author's Note:**

> ah, the 'previously human character loses their body and must suddenly adapt to having a completely different physical form' trope, my old friend
> 
> in all seriousness, this isn't great but I had the idea and I wanted to write it out!
> 
> credit to https://ursik-l.tumblr.com/ for the idea that neon-j sees in sonar colours, that's a really neat idea so I uh. included it in this fic, hope ya don't mind!

_ Have you ever suffered from sleep paralysis before? _

_ The name’s slightly misleading, you’re not actually asleep - instead, your body just  _ thinks  _ it’s asleep while your mind’s left in the driver’s seat without a wheel. You’re stuck there with nothing to do but watch, and wait for the feeling in your limbs to come back. _

_ But you still technically  _ have  _ your body. It’s not responding anymore, but it’s still there. Of course it’s still there. It’s not like you can just wake up and all your arms and legs are just. Gone. That can’t happen. That  _ doesn’t  _ happen. _

_ And even if it  _ did _ happen, it’s not like you wouldn’t have anything. Humans are more than just a couple arms, a couple legs, there’s the head and the stomach and the kidneys and the liver and the and the and the and the _

“He’s gone into a recursive loop again. ██████, take a quick look at all the loop functions, you might’ve put a ‘while’ instead of a ‘for’. ███? ███, can you hear us?”

_ and the and the what the hell? What just happened? Where are you? Why can’t you feel your arms, why can’t you feel your legs? Why can’t you feel  _ anything _? Or see anything for that matter - are you blind? There’s a flicker, a glitch-glimpse of a memory. Shrapnel. Explosions cracking the sky like an egg. A bang, and something slamming into him with all the grace and subtlety of an unexpected freight train- and then, nothing. _

“Well, the memory banks are active at least, though we might want to tone done ease of access for the more...sensitive ones. Could ensure a smoother transfer, make it easier for him to adjust to the framework. Alright, get the visual feed up, I’m going to try and ‘wake him up’, so to speak. Commencing in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 - ”

The world explodes into colour. ( _ Even that little metaphor brings back bombs and flashes and the thick scent of smoke- what’s that beeping noise? _ ). Well, about 4 colours: white, black, light green, dark green. Things seem to jump into view - first a bed, with something smooth and lifeless lying upon it ( _ beep _ ), then a table 1.2 metres ( _ How do you know that? _ ) from him ( _ beep _ ), then the surgical tools on it ( _ beep _ ). Two human silhouettes and then, finally ( _ beep _ ), their features seem to suddenly appear. One man, one woman. He hasn’t met them before ( _ You think? It’s hard to remember. Everything’s fuzzy. Your head hurts. You can’t move your arms. _ )

“Ah, Jay!” One of the people, the man, exclaims. “It’s great to see you awake at last. You had us a bit worried there - you were out for some time!”

‘Jay’ doesn’t respond. ( _ Where is your mouth you can’t feel your mouth you can’t feel your you can’t you _ )

“Jay? Or- would you prefer ‘Captain’? I realise you held that title for quite some time, it’s entirely understandable if you-”

The woman shuffles closer ( _ 1.6m _ ) and mutters something in the man’s ear. Something about speakers, and audio processing, and perhaps we shouldn’t push him too far too fast, it’s a tough procedure so be gentle, okay?

“Ah!!” The man looks sheepish. “Right. Of course. One second, Jay. This might feel a little bit weird, but I’m just going to activate your new speakers, alright?”

He doesn’t know why the man ( _ probably a doctor, judging by the room, you’ll call him Doctor #1 for now _ ) asks for confirmation. He can’t talk, and Doctor #1 certainly doesn’t wait for a response before going around the back of him ( _ 1m 97cm 64cm 21cm too close TOO CLOSE- _ ) and. Well.

He does something. Jay doesn’t know exactly what that  _ something _ is, because he’s never felt anything like it before. Part of him, the rational part still apparently hanging on by the skin of its metaphorical teeth, says that he adjusted some clothing, maybe shifted an IV cord, or even something like a catheter around. Not what he  _ felt _ just happen. Because what he  _ felt _ isn’t physically possible. 

You can’t just reach inside someone’s back. That’s not possible.

And suddenly something changes, violently, and something somewhere has suddenly become very, very loud. If he was paying attention, he might’ve noticed the Doctors flinching, and yelling something over the din. But he wasn’t paying attention, because the droning of static was the drone of a plane was the drone of a submarine hull crumpling under the pressure was the sound of everything going wrong and he was  _ terrified _ . The smooth form he’d seen on the table moves in an awful, inhuman motion, the robotic arms twitching and glitching like an animatronic gone rogue. Nothing major, no flailing, just the sad, frightened auto-response of a panic attack.

Amidst the static and the flood of memories he hears Doctor #1 yell “Ok, switch the speakers back off! Put the patient back into sleep mode - we’ll try again tomorrow, just  _ shut him off. _ ”

Someone moves behind him ( _ 30cm _ ) and he tries to struggle but his limbs are made of lead made of metal and someone is opening up his back reaching  **inside** a horrifying invasion of his personal space and they have their hands around something and -

And - 

And and - a _ nd d dd d  _

_ Syystemmm shuttting dowwwnw n _

_ nn _

_ nnn _

_ n _


End file.
